The long term objective of the proposed Florida International University-Health Disparities Initiative (FIU-HDI) is to expand FIU's capacity to conduct health disparities community based participatory research (CBPR) that will have a direct impact in reducing the high rates of HIV, substance abuse, and obesity among African Americans, Latinos, Haitians, and all underserved communities in South Florida and the Caribbean region. The aims of FIU-HDI are: (1) increase in the number of doctoral level trained health disparities researchers who will conduct health disparities research that will provide valuable information to health care providers and policymakers in developing effective interventions leading to reductions in the rates of HIV, substance abuse, and obesity in vulnerable populations in South Florida and the Caribbean region, (2) Expand and strengthen the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine curriculum to expose medical students to health disparities research with a special emphasis on HIV, substance abuse, and obesity research in vulnerable populations in South Florida and the Caribbean. FIU-HDI will build on the research capacity-building success of FIU's NIMHD P20 Exploratory Center of Excellence grant: Center for Substance Use and HIV/AIDS Research on Latinos in the United States (C-SALUD). The FIU-HDI will build on the expertise available in the Department of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (HPDP) within FIU's Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work (CPHSW). HPDP faculty possess extensive experience in conducting NIH funded community based participatory HIV and substance abuse prevention intervention research with underserved African American and Haitian communities in South Florida; have cultivated and sustained ongoing community-based collaborations with several distinguished research institutions in the Caribbean region. The FIU-HDI will expand the capacity building activities of the Department of Medical and Population Health Sciences Research (MPHR) within FIU's Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (COM) to train the next generation of health care providers in the proper use of evidence-based medicine to effectively address the health needs of vulnerable populations in South Florida and the Caribbean region. The cornerstone of this department and of COM is to graduate physicians who understand the social and cultural determinants of health in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of patients and communities. We expect that once the FIU-HDI is fully operational, beginning in Year 3 and thereafter, the interest from the Endowment and the University funds will result in the training of at least 34 doctoral level health disparity researchers over the next 20 years establishing the FIU-HDI as one of the most robust doctoral training programs in health disparity research in the nation. We also expect a reshaping of COM curriculum to train the next generation of physicians who will account for social determinants of health when providing medical services to patients from undeserved communities in South Florida and the Caribbean.